1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rope gripping devices, and more particularly to hand held devices useful for manually gripping ropes when adjusting the sails on small sailing boats.
2. Description of the prior art
When participating in the sport of sailing, adjustments in the angle of the sail relative to the direction of the wind are generally accomplished by manually grasping the rope, generally referred to in the trade as the main or jib sheet, and forcibly correcting the angle of the sail. The wind exerts a strong force against the sail which often results in problems such as hand fatigue, blisters, or slippage of the rope. Permanently mounted cam cleats for securing the ropes or jib sheets have been found in the Alter's device, U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,876, date July 25, 1972, and the Slemmons Pat., No. 4,620,499, dated Nov. 4, 1986. These devices are designed to be permanently mounted to a stationary surface and not for use as a hand held rope cleat. There are times when portable rope cleats are useful even when a fixed cleat is available. This can occur when attempting to maneuver a jib sheet attached to a billowing sail into a stationary cam cleat. Smaller sailboats typically function with the helmsman steering and handling the main sail while one crewman trims the jib sail by pulling on the attached sheet or rope. Since frequent position setting or trimming the sail is necessary, the crewman will at times be required to maintain a constant tension on the jib sheet. It is during this time the crewman experiences hand fatigue and the other previously mentioned problems. A permanently mounted cam cleat would be ineffective in this case since trimming of the sails at times requires regulation which involves increasing as well as decreasing the tension of the sheets, whereas conventional cam cleats are designed only to maintain or increase tension. To decrease the tension, the sheet must be completely removed from the stationary cam cleat. As my cleat is a hand protecting, hand held device, increasing or decreasing line tension is simply a matter of pulling or releasing pull on the held line.
Several hand held cam cleats designed for uses other than sailboat sheet cleats were found in a past art patent search which included U.S. Pat. No. 343,814, dated June 15, 1886, issued to Hedden; Pat. No. 83,109, dated Oct. 13, 1868, issued to Thompson; and the Judd Pat., No. 1,520,716, dated Dec. 30, 1924. Major changes in the design of these devices would be necessary for them to function in the same capacity as my invention. A two handed grip is common when grasping a rope and therefore would also be natural on a rope cleat device. If a two hand grip were used on any of these devices the natural placement of one hand would be over the rotating cams to help maintain the rope within the cleat, and the other hand would necessarily be on the handle. This would conceivably result in injury should the hand become pinched between the rotating cams. The frame and handle portions vary greatly in size and structure and none appear designed for providing a strong gripping surface which is to be maintained for an extended period of time. Since the tension exerted on the sheets during sailing is sometimes extensive, the handle portion of the hand cleat would necessarily be required to be structured for a comfortable and secure grip. None of the devices could be effectively used, in the state depicted by their respective illustrations or described in their claims, as being safe hand held cleats for trimming jib sheets. No claims or references are made by the inventors as to the versatility of their devices for uses other than those which are specifically stated.
I therefore feel my device comprises a substantial improvement over the previously mentioned past art inventions and provides new and useful benefits to the sport of sailing as will be shown in the following specification.